10
LMS Issue 4 | 2014
News | International & Local
It’s All About Fusion Cuisine
L
abotec teambuilding took up a
different challenge this year with
the staff being lured out of their offices
with the promise of delicious food. The
twist was that they had to create and
cook it themselves. Labotec Staff had to
produce a delicious fusion of Afro-Euro
cuisine in a Masterchef style competition.
This took most of the staff out of their
comfort zones since the suggested menu
to be created was significantly more
complicated than usual. Fortunately, they
took to the challenge with gusto and
enthusiasm, which was further enhanced
by the lovely surroundings of Bundu
Kitchen in Chartwell.
In addition to the teambuilding
activities, top performers at Labotec
were rewarded for their performances
over the past year, with the prize for
sales person of the year being awarded
to Natasha Malan. ⚛
Labotec team enjoying their teambuilding event at Bundu Kitchen, Chartwell
INTEGRA Wins Again
I
NTEGRA Biosciences has received
a Red Dot Design Award for its
innovative Viaflo Assist. This is a new
laboratory device that, in combination
with the Viaflo II
electronic handheld
pipette, enables the
pipette’s protocols to be
performed automatically.
With its origins dating
back to 1955, the Red
Dot Design Award
ranks among the
most renowned
design
competitions in
the world.
INTEGRA received
the prestigious Red Dot Design Award
for the innovative design and function of
the Viaflo Assist pipetting assistant, which
reduces the need for traditional handheld
pipetting to a minimum, relieving lab
personnel from activities that may cause
repetitive stress injuries.
The instrument met the Red Dot
Design Award jury’s criteria of degree of
innovation, functionality, formal quality,
ergonomics, durability, symbolic and
emotional content, product periphery,
self-explanatory quality and ecological
compatibility. Some 4815 products were
submitted in 23 main categories and
have been evaluated by the international
jury comprising 40 renowned designers.
Following the award announcement, the
Viaflo will be put on display in the Red
Dot Design Museum in Essen, Germany.
“Handheld pipetting
requires practice to
achieve steady
reproducible
pipetting results,”
said Juerg
Bass, Marketing and Communications
Manager for INTEGRA. “Typical
parameters influencing
performance are tip
immersion depth and
pipetting angle.
Its automated
pipetting capability
ensures that these parameters are always
the same, resulting in increased reproducibility. This prestigious design award
underlines how INTEGRA strives to provide
ergonomic laboratory tools to customers
that help improve the ease with which
they can undertake their working practices
and also increase productivity.”
The Assist works with all Viaflo II multi
channel pipettes enabling precision
pipetting throughout the volume range of
0.5 - 1250µl. To use the instrument, simply
mount a Viaflo II electronic pipette onto
the pipette adapter, choose a protocol
and press the run button. Viaflo Assist will
then obtain the protocol by Bluetooth
from the Viaflo II electronic pipette and
automatically execute it. ⚛
Esco and Basan Host First Joint Forums
J
ohannesburg-based Esco Technologies (Pty) Ltd and Basan, with
complementary product lines, joined
forces and hosted two forums in Cape
Town and Johannesburg (Midrand).
These forums ran over two days and
offered presentations by international
and local specialists on the various topics
related to biological and chemical containment solutions, process upgrades
and validation methods.
This unique event was an opportunity
Attendees at the forum enjoying one of the presentations
to gain insight into the latest thinking,
trends and technology in controlled
environment management. A total of 135
guests involved in production, quality
assurance, procurement and all aspects
of operations from biotechnology and
pharmaceutical industries attended.
Country Manager of Esco, Sonja
Strydom said, “It was an honour to plough
back to the companies who support our
Industry and we look forward to host
many more of these events in future.” ⚛
Neal Horobin, Engineering Manager, Esco UK with
Sonja Strydom, Esco SA